Scientists develop a calculator to predict the number of 'healthy years' in life

While life itself is unpredictable, every person is interested in living longer and knowing the number of years they have left in their lifespan. Although getting this information may have seemed like wishful thinking till now, medical technology may just change things.

Now scientists have come up with a way to calculate the number of years a person can continue to live a healthy life. They predicted that a 60-year-old, who exercises regularly, eats healthy, gets eight hours of sleep and has a healthy body mass index, has around 13 years of healthy living to look forward to.

While lifestyle choices drive difference in healthy life expectancy among individuals, factors like gender and age are non-lifestyle related aspects that affect the same. While the number of healthy years decreases with age, the expectancy for quality life is higher among women as compared to men.

In addition to these, education, income, perception about one’s own health and alcohol intake are also taken into consideration. Higher education level, better income and a positive perception of personal well being can add years to healthy life expectancy.

The scientists are also working on an online tool where people can calculate their healthy, unhealthy and total life expectancy by themselves.